15 Reasons Arizona will Win it all and 5 Reasons why they won't

Note: I wrote this on my red eye flight from Tucson to Vegas and then to Chicago, so it may seem a little off. Also for those of you not into sports, don’t worry, we have several no sport items coming up for you. Woot.

15 Reasons Arizona Will Win It All:

1. Wide Open Tourney – This year’s field of 65 is the most wide open I’ve seen in recent memory. Everyone of the top seeds has more then a few glaring weaknesses. This year it there are about 15-20 that can win it all, which ever one of those teams gets hot and catches the right breaks will end up as this years Champion, Arizona has just as good a chance as anyone else.

2. Senior Leadership – Our two Seniors, Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire, both have been close to the Final Four before. They both know what it will take to get over the hump and win it all. They also know that they’ll be the first ever four year starters in the Lute Olson era not to reach the Final Four if they fall short, I don’t think they want that distinction.

3. Salim – He proved last Saturday that he can be the most dominant scorer in the nation when he’s on. If Salim stays hot through out the tourney, then Arizona will be very, very tough to bring down.

4. Under Dog – This team has been at its best this year when everyone expects them to fail. As the 3 seed in the same region as the best 2 and 1 seed the U of A is the ultimate underdog as far as top seeds are considered. Also factor in that Washington beat them then got a number 1 seed, and this team should have a huge chip on their shoulder and be ready to prove that they are an elite team.

5. Hassan Adams – Even though he’s been inconsistent all year, Hassan has all the tools to carry the Cats deep into the tourney. He played awful against Washington on Saturday and is ready to bounce back in the tourney. He could use an impressive tourney run as a spring board into the NBA Draft.

6. Lute Olson – While the silver haired fox has a reputation for early tourney exits, he also has a knack for deep tourney runs. He’s played in 5 FF, 2 NC, and countless Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. The man knows how to get it done in March (and early April).

7 Depth – This team will run at least 8 deep with the usual bench being J-Mac, Rodgers and Kirk. However, thanks to Jawann and Hassan’s versatility, our depths is even deeper then it first appears(whatever the hell that means). Hassan can fill in at the 4 and the U of A won’t miss a beat. Add Jesus and Daniel Dillion to the mix as well as Fox and Brelimier (sp?) and the Cats have the ability to go 12 deep.

8. Oklahoma State and Illinois – For a team that routinely plays to its opponent’s level, it may work in our favor to play against two of the best teams in the country.

9. Channing Frye – Channing is one of the best big man in the nation, his ability to play the inside-out game makes him an incredibly tough match up for opposing teams. He can drag shot blocking big man out to the perimeter and can take smaller big man inside. He’s also a good rebounder when he wants to be and is an excellent defense presence and he’ll constantly alter opponent’s shots.

10. Combination of Youth and Experience – There’s an old proverb that says: ‘Genius is wisdom and youth’. This proverb could turn true for Arizona. We start 2 Seniors, a Junior, and 2 Sophomores. Off the bench we bring our 6th Man Freshman, and another Junior and Sophomore.

11. Big Shots – Almost everyone in the U of A’s 8-man rotation has come up big at least once in there colligate career, just take a look. Salim: UCLA, ASU, Washington (hit the game clinching shot at Mckale, was the only reason we were in the game last Sat.) Channing: WSU (hit every big shot in regulation while keeping us in the game), Notre Dame (Hit his first 6 or 7 shots as a Soph, while we pounced on the Irish early). Hassan: Utah, Washington (carried us in Seattle.) Ivan: Washington State. Mustafa: ASU, Washington (@ Mckale he hit huge shots all night), USC (As a frosh he hit a buzzer beater in the Pac-10 touney.) Jawaan: MSG, 1st Washington Game, Pac-10 Tourney.
Rodgers: Marquette. While Kirk has yet to hit a huge shot or make a game altering play, odds are he won’t have to this year, but his future looks real bright.

12. Defense – When they want to be, the U of A is an excellent defensive team. Add that to the fact that we can keep teams guessing by switching from Man to Man to the 1-3-1 and we’re a very tough team on the defensive side of the court.

13. Rebounding – With the exception of when we play Washington, the Cats are an excellent rebounding team, now that Channing has set his mind to rebounding. All 8 of our major players rebound very well for there position; this team can be a force on the offensive and defensive glass.

14. Ready for Any Style of Play – Arizona has seen just about every style of play this year. Teams have run all sorts of zones and trick defenses against us and we’ve seen teams that play multiple styles on offense. We’ve had shoot outs(Washington, Wake Forest) Defensive battles(Marquette, Michigan) Slow Down(Bennet, Dick) and every style in between. Nothing should catch the U of A off guard this year. (Famous Last Words, I know.)

15. Coming in off a loss – Despite the plethora of Red Flags that were raised by Saturday’s game, I think the loss helped Arizona more then it hurt them. For one, a multitude of lessons should be learned from the game, i.e. 4 other guys watching Salim doesn’t constitute as an offense, Channing must get touches, we need to want it more then the other teams, ect. ect. The loss will also help to refocus the team that probably we have gotten to full of itself had it won. It also should make the entire team hungry, and they should be real pissed off the Washington snagged a 1 seed by beating them. All in all, it’s anyone’s Tournament, let’s just hope Arizona decides to make it theirs.

5 Reasons they won’t Win It All:

1. Inconsistency – All year long this team has shown flashes of brilliance, followed by flopping against an inferior opponent. Arizona has ha d a tendency to play down to it’s opponents level and lacks a consistent scorer after Frye and Stoudamire.

2. 2ND Shooter – After Salim, no one on this team can hit the three with much consistency. Rodgers and J-Mac both can shoot, but both have been streaky at best this year. Mustafa, Hassan and Ivan all have the ability to hit the 3 Ball, but is any opponent really afraid of them taking that shot?

3. Lack of the Next Level – Away for home, Arizona has yet to find that Next Level that all Championship teams have. On the road the U of A does enough to not loose, in a big game this year they’ve yet to get over the hump and outplay an opposing team when it mattered most.

4. Lack of a Lock-Down Defender – The Cats last National Title run had a lot to do with Richard Jefferson shutting down any opposing player he came against. Whether it was Frank Williams, Casey Jacobsen or Jason Richardson, RJ could be counted on to contain the opposing teams best player. This years team lacks a lock down defender, Salim needs to save his energy for scoring, Mustafa doesn’t have the mental part of being a lock down defender, same with Hassan. Rodgers may have it, but lately his been a train wreck on the court. The best thing that has been said about J-Mac’s defense is that he’s no longer a liability, ugh.

5. Dynamic Rebounder – Rebound is the key factor most people forget about in NCAA Tourney game. While Frye, Ivan and Hassan all rebound well, neither of them have yet to show the ability of a dynamic rebounder. With the game on the line, no one of this team has yet to show that they will let no one but them get the game’s most important rebound. This could easily be the Wildcats undoing.

Coming Soon: My Ncaa Tournament Manifesto (and things of that nature), Man’s stupidity personified on Airplanes, Side Notes.